In To'abaita, Solomon Islands a Thesis Sumitted
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GENDER AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: THE CASE OF THE FISH AGGREGATING DEVICE (FAD) IN TO’ABAITA, SOLOMON ISLANDS A THESIS SUMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI’I AT MĀNOA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN SOCIOLOGY MAY 2019 By Enly Saeni Labuinao Thesis committee: Sun-Ki Chai, chairperson Yean-Ju Lee Tarcisius Kabutaulaka Keywords: Solomon Islands, To’abaita, gender, economic development DEDICATION Dedicated to the young people of To’abaita in North Malaita, Solomon Islands i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS With great honour and respect I would like to express my sincere thanks to the following people for their invaluable support during the course of my study. Without them I would not have been able to complete this study. Thank you to my thesis committee members, Dr. Sun-Ki Chai, Dr. Yean-Ju Lee and Dr. Tarcisius Kabutaulaka for your invaluable contributions and support in helping me complete this study. Thank you to the East-West Center and the U.S. Department of State‘s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) for the scholarship and for facilitating my studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Without you, I would not have come this far. Thank you WorldFish Solomon Islands for the continuous support in facilitating my field research in Solomon Islands by funding and providing transport for me to visit communities while I was on fieldwork in Solomon Islands. Thank you especially for Asian Development Bank (ADB) and CGIAR Research Program (Fish CRP) led by WorldFish. Thank you to Delvene Boso, Leila Galo, Helen Teioli, Faye Siota, Janet Oeta, Grace Orirana, Iven Tonafalea, Meshach Sukulu, Ronny Posala, Regon Warren, James Faiau, Daykin Harohau, and Dr. Gregory Bennett, Dr. Anne-Maree Schwarz, and Dr. Cohen Philippa for your kindness and support. Without you, I would not have reach this far. A word of thanks, especially for Dr. Van Der Ploeg Johan, Dr. Joelle Albert, and Dr. Michelle Dyer for your continuous support and willingness to read, comment, and edit part of this paper. My sincere thanks to the communities, family members and individual participants in To‘abaita who participated in this study. Thank you for your time and willingness to share your stories and experiences with me. I really appreciate the conversations and interactions we had during my field work. Sore le‟a fa‟amau. Finally thank you to my friends at the East-West Center, colleagues from the Department of Sociology, Pan Pacific friends and wantoks for your love and support. ii ABSTRACT Kastom or traditional societies are often portrayed as the root of gender inequalities. It is often argued that in order to create gender equality, there is a need to transform them from traditional to modern societies, a lineal transition that reflects the trajectories of modernization. Here, I argue that kastom and traditional societies are not necessarily the roots of gender inequality. Rather, gender inequality is a product of the process of change, including neoliberal economic development, which creates new and unequal gender expectations and relationships. This is a complex process of intersections between traditional and modern changes that have resulted in changes to mutual gender responsibilities that were characteristic of traditional societies. Here, I use the case of To‘abaita society in Malaita in Solomon Islands to show how economic development projects create and perpetuate gender inequalities, and how traditional gender relations influence the processes and outcomes of economic development projects. The study shows that in the To‘abaita society, there is no such word in the local dialect that is equivalent with the English word, ‗gender.‘ In the To‘abaita language, the terms wane-wane ni bona‟a and kini-kini ni bona‟a are used, which are actually a reference to someone‘s sex – male and female – rather than gender. When international organizations used economic development to change relationships between men and women it disrupts society and development is slow. However, when international organizations focus on empowering both men and women in their traditional roles and responsibilities, it gives them more power to pursue with other economic development aspirations to improve their lives. In this study I used kastom and traditional societies referring to the To‘abaita society, especially how To‘abaitans claimed themselves as being a man and woman in their own views and sensibilities, and in general how Solomon Islanders define their own society as dynamic, changing, functioning and surviving over time. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION ........................................................................................................................................... i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................................................... ii ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................................ iii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... 1 Self-Reflection and motivation ................................................................................................................. 2 Justification of the study ........................................................................................................................... 4 Thesis Statement ...................................................................................................................................... 5 Research questions ................................................................................................................................... 6 Organization of the thesis ......................................................................................................................... 6 CHAPTER 2. METHODOLOGY .............................................................................................................. 9 Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 9 Semi-Structured In-depth Interview ......................................................................................................... 9 Going to the Solomon Islands ................................................................................................................. 10 Community and site selection ................................................................................................................ 11 Established contacts ............................................................................................................................... 13 Recruitment of participants .................................................................................................................... 14 Conducting Interviews ............................................................................................................................ 14 Participant Observation .......................................................................................................................... 17 Data processing and analysis .................................................................................................................. 18 Limitation ................................................................................................................................................ 19 The study location ................................................................................................................................... 21 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................... 21 CHAPTER 3. GENDER AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ........................................................... 23 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 23 Understanding gender ............................................................................................................................ 23 Women in Development and Gender and Development Framework .................................................... 26 Social Structures and Institutions ........................................................................................................... 29 Gender Inequalities ................................................................................................................................. 31 Implications: Gender and economic development ................................................................................. 32 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................... 34 iv CHAPTER 4. GENDER AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN SOLOMON ISLANDS .............. 36 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 36 Solomon Islands ...................................................................................................................................... 36 Kastom and Traditional societies ............................................................................................................ 37 Women economic empowerment